Jul 19, 2012

Snapshot: Chicago

Heyyy! I'm back from Chi-Town (unfortunately). It's good to be back home, but I seriously love Chicago. I went through a period where I believed I was destined to move to the Windy City when I graduated college. However, the boyfran quickly reminded me of the extremely cold winters Chicago experiences and I quickly rethought my plan. I just can't do the cold. I get whiny, start to complain, and basically make everyone around me miserable am better off in warmer weather. This trip brought more blazing hot temperatures (100+ degrees), though, instead of freezing ones, but was still an amazing little vacation. But since I just got home a few hours ago and am exhausted, let's zoom on through this little post! More pictures, less words.

TUESDAY
I left off with our delish dinner at Giordano's pizzeria. After gorging ourselves on cheese and crust, we waddled back to the hotel and headed straight to dreamland. We had to rest up to prepare ourselves for shopping all day on Wednesday! First, though, we had to endure a boat tour of Chicago that the madre so desperately wanted to go on. I say endure because it was easily upwards of 90 degrees by the time we boarded the boat, and we were sitting in the direct path of the blazing sun. It was a little warm for my taste, but we got to see some pretty cool sites:

Our adorable little boat guide.
We had the most precious tour guide, Deb, telling us what seemed like an endless amount of information about everything. She was so knowledgeable! I loved her. We got to see a ton of elaborately designed buildings, hotels, and apartments.

Incredible.
Such a pretty view.
Longest.building.ever.
The madre, the big sister, and I.
It was a neat little tour, but I was more than happy to be off the boat and into the cool air. Unfortunately, we got back to walking right away. It was a relief to finally see this sign:

Michigan Avenue is quite possible the best street in America.
We spent literally all day on this one little street. But I wasn't complaining! As long as I'm in an air-conditioned place, I'm satisfied. Add in some apparel that I can possibly purchase, and I'm one happy camper.

Love H&M.

Neiman.
We took a break late afternoon to silence our grumbling bellies.

When in Chicago...
I had some delicious chicken lettuce wraps.

Nom.
And I was forced to get cheesecake, so I guess I had to.

Double nom!
Peanut butter candy cheesecake for me! <<< that wasn't the real name, but that's what I decided to call it!

In love with a dessert.
With some renewed fuel, we conquered a few more stores before calling it a day. I love shopping way more than the average girl as much as the next girl, but I was exhausted after our little endeavor. Here's all my loot:

Too many clothes? ....nah.
Back at the hotel, the couch and leftover cheesecake were calling my name.

They go great together, trust me.
Bed time followed shortly after.

WEDNESDAY
Wednesday was dubbed "site-seeing day." We left the hotel early (again) in the morning and scurried off to Millennium Park to see one of Chicago's greatest monuments:

The beeean!
Reflection.
 I couldn't get enough pictures of this thing!

Reflection of the city.
I got the wholeeeee bean, in my hand.
Seeesters.
We had a lovely little time at Millennium park. Posing by the sign was a must:

The fam.
Next stop: some giant fountain I can't remember the name of:

Trust me, it was huge.
Sis pic.
After the fountain, we hurried over to the bus stop to get to our next destination.

We are such tourists.
Yay for public transportation!
Our destination, Navy Pier, was just a few stops away. We arrived in no time (after I lost my balance on the bus 4932 times).

Da pier.
Gorgeous view of the city.
We didn't spend too much time on the pier because it was so hot, but we definitely got our fill our pretty lake views.

After all our site-seeing was done, we freshened up at the hotel before heading to the madre's cousin's house for a wonderful feast. We had a great time laughing and chowing down with her before calling it a night and journeying back to the hotel.

I had such a wonderful time in Chicago spending time with the family and getting to see the big sister. I think this trip has made me see, yet again, how blessed I am to have such a loving family. :)

Until next time, Chi Town!

Perfection.
Oh yeah, and this also means that #25 on my 101 in 1001 is now crossed off!!

Til next time,                 
  Shelby   

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